I Love You
by Celestron
Summary: Sometimes, the important things go without saying....


Author's Note:  Okay, guys.  This one's a bit older, so probably not as good, but I found it and re-read it, and *I* like it, so THERE!

Warning: Waff and Angst abound, but no real spoilers.

Dis-claim-her:  Don't own em, and you know it.  No suing!  (C'mon guys, I'm in college, you really think you'd get anything anyway?)

"I Love You"

            I now pronounce you husband and wife… You may kiss the bride…"

            Neither could bring themselves to say the words

            As the years passed a certain closeness seemed to grow between them, and there were times when Akane thought that, maybe with just a little coaxing, she might be able to tell him how she really felt, but those moments always seemed to be interrupted, first by house guests, Nodoka coming to stay with them, often Ranma's students would stay over, as they sometimes had to come very far to train under him, then later it was the girls that would interrupt the quiet moments.  The twins that were the love of Akane's life… and eventually their little brother would present himself as a bother, too, breaking into those few sacred moments, shattering the peace that they had almost accepted into their souls. But the closeness continued to grow.  At first Akane wasn't so sure, but she was assured by Nabiki, that yes, they were getting along much better.  Akane did eventually realize the truth of that statement when, one day, she reached for her mallet (few things were actually malletable offenses anymore) and realized that she had to search for it for a moment and, of course, by the time she found it she didn't really feel like using it anymore.

            It was around the time their son entered college that Ranma's health began fading.  Perhaps it was all those battles in his youth, all the times he cheated death back then, all the abuse his body took…but whatever it was, it eventually caught up to him.  Akane sat by his bedside, feeding him soup and broth and occasional healing brews (having long before learned to cook) until one day, when she came to sit by his bedside and be with him for a while, and he knew his time was soon.  He looked out over his life and realized that there was only one thing he regretted, and since he was running out of time, and wanted to leave with no regrets, he decided that he may as well get it out. Besides, he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences for very long.  Calling his wife's name softly to get her attention, he thanked her for everything she had done over the years.  He told her how much he loved their children, all grown now, and how wonderfully they took after their mother.  He told her how happy he had been to have been her husband for all this time, and how glad he was that they had worked out their differences early on. But, he said, there was one thing that he regretted, he regretted that he had never admitted his love for her.  Had it not been an arranged marriage and they had met by chance, then he was certain that he would have told her only a year after meeting her.  But the marriage _had_ been arranged, and she had resisted him so much that he was afraid the rejecting words would be spoken, so he had kept his silence.  But now, on his deathbed, he realized that it probably would have been better to have said it and been done with the whole mess years ago, when they were first married.  In fact, he had whispered, oh so quietly, to her on their wedding day, at the alter, but she hadn't heard, and he had never gotten the nerve to say it again, so afraid was he of her response.  He was telling her now because he thought she should know that all those years he really had been in love with her, not just honor bound.  It really had been a marriage of love, not simply honor.  She laughed at him, smiling that warm smile that he loved so much, and simply looked at him and said that she knew.  She had always known.  She hadn't been sure of what he had said at the alter that day, but she thought that that was what it had been.  But by the time that she had pieced everything together, there just never seemed to be any quiet moments anymore.  But she had come to realize that it didn't really matter.  The closeness had grown anyway, and they had been happy, hadn't they?  And, even though he'd never said it, she had known in her heart, what he had truly felt.  But, she worried, embarrassed, had he known how _she_ felt?  

            Oh, yes, he'd known.  He'd always known.  

            Then what was the problem?  Words need not be said, to be heard and understood.  They had lived a long and happy life together hadn't they?  

            Yes, he replied, they had.

            She said that she wouldn't have wanted to live it without him.  

            He had to go, soon.  But he promised to watch over her even from death, if she wanted.

            But she didn't want him to watch, just to wait.  A few days to put things in order, just wait for her a few days?

            Of course, and he was gone.

            She smiled her soft smile, the one that she knew had always melted his heart, and left the room to put a few things in order.  She wasn't concerned and she wasn't sad that her love was no longer there, it was only a few days, and what was that compared to the lifetime they'd waited already for the saying of those three little words?

            "I love you"

***

Whew.... that was....draining.  Was it too sad?  Too weird?  Too unlikely?

Anyway, review, or I'll sic Fluffy-chan upon your arse!


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